Anime Vice News

Haruhi Has 8,500 Hardcore Fans in Japan

Is Haruhi Suzumiya dying?

Wanna know how I know how many Haruhi fans there are? Because that's the reported number of sales of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekidou, aka That Haruhi Wii Dancing Game. That's only a tenth of the sales the PSP game Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku, and only 6% of the number of copies of the PS2 game Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi.

Of course, it's worth noting that both of those games-- like the popular Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu –actually offers new and different content from what's seen before, compared to the considerably lesser-selling Gekidou and the Suzumiya Haruhi manga, which offer more of the same stuff we've already been seeing.

Haruhi was so big that it's hard to fathom that the franchise might be dying in Japan, especially considering that the novels are just starting to come out (first volume in April). I'm hoping that the news we'll see in February regarding season 2 is really, really awesome...

An adventure game/visual novel like Tomadoi or Yakusoku is more likely to attract greater sales than a motion dancing game like Gekidou, esp. from a "hardcore" audience, though the quality of the title counts as well. The Haruhi brand is certainly declining in power in Japan after failures to deliver on production promises - the net shorts may improve that slightly but not as drastically as a second season would.

Dig Deeper into The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is about a girl who unknowingly has the power to change the world as she sees fit. Add in a meddlesome psychic, an alien robot, and a ditzy time traveler, and you've got one exhausted Kyon.